Cops and Robbers ReWrite
by Alwaysgurl2013
Summary: What if Caskett had been together at the time of Cops and Robbers, but no one knew about it but them?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**** I always wanted to do a rewrite of Cops and Robbers where Caskett was dating. So I've borrowed dialog from the show to do this rewrite. The first three chapters don't have a ton of difference in the plotting, but chapters 4 and 5 will. Originally I just started at chapter 4 and was going to have this be a two shot, however I felt like it made more sense knowing where Kate was at having the first three chapters added. So before I get reviews saying that a lot of the dialog isn't my own thoughts, I thought I would clear it up:) Enjoy!-Lizzy**

"What do you want Castle?"

"Tell me you need me."

"Excuse me?" Kate thought about cracking off some sort of wisecrack to her partner, but in the moment she had been caught off guard. _Tell me you need me_, what the hell does he mean by that? He knows she's at work with Espo and Ryan, he can't seriously be asking her to sneak away right now could he?

"I'm stuck at a bank helping my mother get a loan from my banker. Please tell me that there's a murder somewhere we can be solving."

"Uh, sorry, there's no dead bodies, just a lot of paperwork, but you're welcome to come and do your share for once." Teasing her- boyfriend doesn't seem like the right word to use since they haven't talked about what this sleeping together thing actually means- partner is always easy when he's trying to get out of things like this meeting.

"The only thing worse than being here is being there doing paperwork."

"You know, how come we're partners when I'm chasing down bad guys and as soon as there's paperwork, I'm on a solo mission?" She waits for a witty reply that never comes.

"Huh."

"What?" Had she lost his attention with just the mere mention of paperwork?

"I think this bank is about to be robbed." Wow, it seems like Castle will come up with anything to get out of a meeting that doesn't hold his attention.

"Really? Are you that bored?" Kate can't help but smile at his overactive imagination.

"There's a man and a woman here dressed in scrubs, and both of them have suspicious bulges in their jackets."

"Castle, I think your writer's imagination is getting away with you." She rolls her eyes thinking of all the things his imagination has gotten him into before.

"Everybody get down on the floor!" A voice shouts loudly enough that Kate can hear it too and suddenly her heart plummets to the ground. Oh God, Castle's right.

"It's not my imagination. It's definitely not my imagination." Castle whispers.

"Move, move, move, move, move, move, move!" One of the bank robbers is yelling in the opposite direction of Castle, but still loudly enough that Kate can clearly hear it all through the other end of the phone as well as Martha crying out softly next to Castle from where her voice comes from.

"Castle, what's happening?" Kate calls out to Castle but he doesn't reply. She can only hope that he and Martha are moving to a safe place. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the New Amsterdam Bank and Trust on Lex." Castle's voice is softer than she's ever heard it before, but that hopefully means that he can stay hidden from the robbers long enough for her to get some help there for him.

"Esposito! There's a 10-30 New Amsterdam Bank and Trust on Lex. Call dispatch." Even as quickly as she is relaying all this information to her other half of the team, it doesn't feel quick enough.

"10-30? Since when are we handling bank robbery calls?" Ryan replies back while Esposito looks at Beckett like she's lost her mind.

"Castle's there." And that gets both of them moving faster.

"I'm hiding behind a desk with my mother, but I can see everything. They're wearing doctors' scrubs. One of them is emptying the cash drawers. Another one is going for the bank manager. He's getting the manager's key. He's going to the back of the bank." She takes in everything that Castle's saying as panicless as she can. She's used to having to stay calm under pressure, but this is different when it's her partner and he's got no back up. Espo calls out something about squad cars being on route, but she knows there is only time before Castle could be found out for having his phone still so now is the time to get any information.

"Castle, I need you to listen very carefully. How many are there?"

"There are...three." A gun cocks from near enough that Kate can hear it too. "Make that four." Kate can hear the start of something being said about Castle being made into an example when the voice suddenly is speaking to her.

"Sorry, your friend can't talk right now." He talks as though he is trying to just hang up the phone so Kate realizes it's now or never for getting anything out of this guy and possibly making him leave before anything worse can happen.

"I wouldn't worry about him, I'd worry about yourself. I've got squad cars on their way."

"You a cop?" He asks and before she can give an answer he turns away from the phone to ask Castle a similar question. "You called a cop?"

"No. I- We were already on the line when you guys came in." She knows him too well and because of that she can hear the slight waver in his voice that tells her he's not just stumbling over his words, but that he's scared. So if only one of them can be brave in this moment, let it be her.

"Listen to me. So far, nobody has been hurt and nothing has been stolen. So, if you just leave the same way that you came in, you can just disappear." She waits a moment, hoping this robber is bright enough to take her advice.

"You gonna promise not to come look for me?"

"I don't look. I hunt." She wants to hiss at him, but for Castle's sake she keeps herself sounding calmer than she feels. "And trust me, you don't want that. So leave now and this'll just be a quirky little article in the Metro section."

"Sorry, sweetheart. I'd rather make the front page." That's the last thing she hears from the robber before the phone goes dead. God, if it wasn't Castle's life that was in danger she wouldn't feel her heart in her feet, right?

"Let's go." She calls to Espo and Ryan as she looks down at her phone which is normally her line to Castle, but on the one day she needs to know he's ok, it's not going to work so she'll go there in person to find him, hopefully, safe and sound. For once she feels like Castle, trying to imagine different ways that she can save Castle while she drives overs to Lexington. Every red light makes her heart pound and her fingers rap against her steering wheel in frustration. With minutes passing like hours, Kate finally pulls up and walks toward the mobile command center.

"I need S.W.A.T. analysis, SitRep, building blueprints, five minutes. Who are you?" The bald man infront of her asking all the questions has to be in charge.

"Detective Kate Beckett, Homicide."

"I'll be sure to call if someone dies. Meanwhile, I need you to step outside-"

"No, sir. My partner is in that bank."

"Wait, we got a cop in there?" Times like this made Kate wish she was able to just say yes instead of having to explain, but she wouldn't trade Castle for the world.

"He's a civilian investigator. He and I were on the phone when they took over the bank. He said that there's four suspects in there, they're dressed up in doctors' scrubs."

"Anything else you can tell me?"

"Yeah, I spoke with one of the suspects." That catches this Captain's eye and ear.

"What was his demeanor?"

"Calm, actually. Very calm." Almost too calm for someone robbing a bank, Kate can't help but think to herself

"Thanks for the intel. We'll do everything we can to get your partner out safe." Captain Peterson, as his shirt says with the calmness that she has heard a thousand different cops tell family and friends that they will do the best they can on a case. Kate won't have words of sympathy alone; she needs to do something to help.

"Okay, so what's our next move?"

"Well, your next move is to leave my command post." Kate is shocked to hear these words. She was expecting the universe to work in some mysterious way that would let her stay and help. "You want to help your partner? Let me do my job." Captain Peterson turns to talk to one of his officers. "Get a line to that bank. I want to talk to this guy." An officer nods and shoots off on his task as Captain Peterson looks back to Kate. "You missed your cue, Detective." Kate can only nod slightly as she rolls her eyes before exiting the Command Post. She spots Ryan and Espo coming over in her direction, but her brain can't help but wonder what is happening inside the bank. Is Castle still ok?

"What did you find out?" Ryan asks, pulling her from her thoughts.

"That our services aren't needed." She wants to roll her eyes ever so slightly at the reminder, but doesn't. She glances around to survey the crime scene before moving on to her next idea, but making sure only her team will hear. "Espo, do you still have buddies in ESU?"

"Of course."

"Good. I want to know what they know. And let's get a hold of Major Crimes. Find out if there are any other robberies with similar M.O.s. The more we know about these guys, the more leverage we got."

"Detective Beckett! Captain Peterson would like a word." The officer from earlier calls out to her and she can only wonder what this is about as she walks back into the command center. They didn't hear her giving orders to Espo and Ryan, so what could he possibly want?

"Tell me, what were you thinking?" He couldn't possibly be mad at her for just being at the scene still, so could he have guessed that they were starting their own investigation? With her luck today, probably.

"I was just trying to help out, sir." She finds herself defending her actions, even though she's not positive that this is what he's talking about.

"What? By charming the bank robber?" Those words catch her off guard. What is he talking about?

"What?" Her eyebrows pull together as the word leaves her lips.

"We get him on the horn, but before I get two words out, he says, and I quote, 'I will only talk to the lady cop, the one with the bedroom voice.'" Kate stares at him for a moment in disbelief. "Yeah. You wanted in? Well, you're in."

"No, sir. I don't have any training in hostage negotiations." God, what if it all goes wrong? What if she screws this up?

Well, I don't have time to give you a seminar, so think of it like this. You do the opposite of whatever your homicide training tells you, okay? So don't yell, don't bully, don't threaten them in any way. It's all about keeping 'em calm. Detective, you up for this?"

"Yeah. Yeah, absolutely." Her blazer comes off as she's trying to stay calm.

"Now, it's important to keep 'em talking. You gotta build rapport. As long as he's busy talking, he's not busy hurting hostages."

"Okay." If this is how she can bring Castle home safe, she'll do it.

"Okay?"

"Mm-hmm." She pulls the headset on and they patch her back into the bank.

"Who's this?" The voice that had hung up on her earlier is back in her ear.

"This is Detective Kate Beckett. I understand that you wanted to speak with me."

"Yeah, I don't like that other guy."

"Yeah, me neither." Kate says truthfully, but she notices Captain Peterson raise his eyebrows at this. Covering the mouthpiece she says softly to him, "You said to build a rapport." Captain Peterson shrugs and lets it got as she turns back to the conversation at hand. "So, what's your name?"

"You can call me Trapper John."

"A M*A*S*H fan. It's nice. So how you doing? Anything I can do to help?"

"Oh, Kate, Kate, Kate. You're running that idiot's playbook, aren't you? What did Captain Confidence tell you? Keep me calm. Build report. Extract information. Here's how it's gonna work. You lie to me, I kill hostages. You jerk me around, I kill hostages. If you storm the bank, I kill hostages. And Kate... I'll start with your boyfriend." Trapper John hangs up but Kate can now only imagine a gun being held to Castle's head again and her heart is pounding.

"Well, we learned one thing." Captain Peterson says as he walks back towards Kate after checking on a couple of things.

"What's that?" Kate turns in her chair to look at him.

"He's not a punk who just woke up and decided to rob a bank. He knows what he's doing. He knows our playbook. This guy's a pro." He turns back towards his cops. "S.W.A.T. tap into the, uh, cameras at the bank yet?"

"Still working on it, sir. Also, there's a Susan Craig for the bank's green branch on line four."

Kate can't sit still while they work so she asks as she stands up, "Sir, what do you want me to do?"

"Nothing."

"I'm sorry?"

"It's not a homicide, Detective. It's not all about moving forward or digging for the next clue. Here, sometimes no move is the best move. Let Trapper John think about things and then we'll call him back." Does he really expect her to just sit still while Castle is in that bank being threatened? Kate can't help but think back to this morning when her and Castle had just been lounging in bed before she had to go to work. What she wouldn't give to go back and not let him leave the house.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: (Repeat from previous chapter!)**** I always wanted to do a rewrite of Cops and Robbers where Caskett was dating. So I've borrowed dialog from the show to do this rewrite. The first three chapters don't have a ton of difference in the plotting, but chapters 4 and 5 will. Originally I just started at chapter 4 and was going to have this be a two shot, however I felt like it made more sense knowing where Kate was at having the first three chapters added. So before I get reviews saying that a lot of the dialog isn't my own thoughts, I thought I would clear it up:) Enjoy!-Lizzy**

An hour passes and they haven't attempted any more calls into the bank. For all Kate knows Castle could already be dead. The cop side of her reminds her not to think so dark yet, that Trapper John could hold up his end of the deal and not hurt anyone, but the part of her that, even though she's scared to admit it, loves Castle too is scared that she'll lose him before she gets the chance to tell him.

Kate is pulled from her thoughts when she sees Esposito walking towards her. "Anything?"

"All bad news. ESU can't get eyes or ears inside. Bank cameras are disabled and the walls are too thick to drill from outside."

"So what if ESU storms the bank?" She knows it's not the best idea, but it might be their only right now.

"They'll be going in blind."

"And, in your experience, in this scenario, what are the hostages' chances of survival?" Espo doesn't respond, because she can tell by his look at the bank and then back to her that the chances aren't good. Kate returns to the command center, hoping that she can soon be back on the phone and get these guys away from Castle.

Another couple of hours pass before the officer, that she has now learned is Officer Monfriez, speaks up about another call. "Captain, it's him."

"Remember the strategy." Captain Peterson reminds her as she puts on the earpiece.

"Yeah." She takes a deep breath as they click the call through. "Hey, how's it going?"

"So far so good."

"Yeah? And how are the hostages? Pretty concerned about the pregnant bank teller, Simone. It's kind of a stressful situation, might want to get her out of there."

"No, no, no, Kate. You gotta give before you can receive."

"Okay, what would you like?"

"A bus with tinted windows. It'll take me, my partners, and my hostages to Teterboro airport. There you're gonna have a plane waiting to take us to the foreign country of my choosing. Now, you do that, I give you the knocked up bank teller. Once we land in paradise, I'll release the rest of the hostages. And Kate, you got three hours." The line clicks off as Trapper John hangs up.

"Alright, Monfriez, find me a bus with tinted windows and get it over here."

"Wait a minute, you're actually giving him what he wants?" Kate's voice relays her shock at the mere idea of giving them what they want.

"Of course not. The only way that guy's leaving that building is either in handcuffs or a body bag. But if it comes to it, I can use that bus to lure the robbers out, have snipers take 'em out."

"What the...? You see that?" Officer Monfriez calls out from where he is looking at the monitors.

"Yeah." Kate looks at the monitor and the light flashing irregularly on the ceiling of the entrance overhang where the S.W.A.T. team is positioned. Castle. He's the only one in that bank that would risk doing something as stupid as this during a bank robbery.

"That's Morse Code." Kate pulls a notepad and writes out what Castle is sending her. "Uh, SDB120 over and over again. What do you think it means?"

"Someone's initials or a code. Same...day...bank."

"Save…"

"Day...save"

"Wait, wait, sa-" She scratches out the words she's tried and writes SDB again to try and figure out Castle's code. "Uh, could be, uh, safe. Safe? SDB. Safe Deposit Bo- Safe deposit box 120. That's it."

"What would a safe deposit box have to do with anything?" Captain Peterson asks as Officer Monfriez types on the computer to pull up the information.

"I don't know, but if Castle went to the trouble of sending that message, it means something." Something important, it has to be.

"How do you know it's him?"

"Trust me, it's him." She knows Castle like the back of her hand, it has to be him.

"Safe deposit box number 1-2-0 belongs to a married couple Agnes and Gideon Fields."

"Anything special about the box?"

"No, just that bank records show they both access it monthly."

"I'll get my team to check it out." Kate says, knowing Espo and Ryan will do anything to help right now. Espo and Ryan agree to it automatically, like she knew they would. She may be the only one here dating Castle- hell if that's what they're doing- but Espo and Ryan think of Castle as one of their own, a brother in arms even.

Kate can't help but think of all the times that Castle would have been an even bigger help on this. He'd probably come up with some theory on why the safety deposit box is as big of a deal as it is. But if he weren't in the bank, they wouldn't even be here. Hell, she wouldn't even had know the bank had been robbed until the outcome of it all is in the paper tomorrow. Her phone goes off and it's Espo calling from their trip.

"Yeah?"

"Looks like the owner of our safety deposit box has been dead maybe a week. Ligature marks on her neck indicate strangulation."

"What'd you find at the crime scene?" Kate asks.

"Place is trashed. Killer was looking for something. There's a broken key chain necklace on the body, but there's no key" Espo replies quickly.

"Okay, that might've been where she kept the key for the safe deposit box."

"I don't get it. This is a little, old, retired librarian. What could possibly be in her safe deposit box that would be worth doing all this?" Espo asks and before she can answer, Ryan does over the speaker phone.

"Nazi gold, cold fusion, map to Atlantis." Castle would be so proud of Ryan's theories, she can't help but think to herself.

"Hey, Castle Jr., could you maybe start thinking like a cop, please?"

"I am."

"Are you?" Their banter distracts her for a moment and she let's it continue.

"It had to have been something huge that was worth killing her over, right? Hey, Super Cop, check it out."

"What is it?" Kate hates being blinded on this side of the phone.

"It's a bug. It's not from a spy shop either, this looks professional." Ryan explains as Kate looks into the crowd and notices Alexis by the perimeter.

"Listen, I need you to dig up everything you can on Agnes Fields. I gotta go." Kate makes her way through the crowd over to where Castle's daughter is.

"They're here, aren't they? My dad and gram are in there. I know they were coming to this bank-"

"Alexis…" Kate tries to interrupt the rambling teen.

"And now no one's answering their phones, and my dad always takes my calls!" Kate knows how true that is. He even has a special ringtone for her so even when they're hard at work on a case, he knows when he hears it to pick up.

"Listen to me."

"And you're here!" Alexis continues.

"Listen, listen. Everything is gonna be fine, okay? But they are inside that bank."

"What am I suppose to do?"

"Nothing. We're doing everything we can."

"You don't understand. They're all I've got. Do you hear me? They're all I've got!"

"Alexis, listen to me. I promise you they are gonna be okay."

"They better."

"Beckett! Incoming call." Officer Monfriez calls out to her from the command center.

"Okay, I gotta go." Kate turns to one of the uniforms and says, "stay with her," knowing it's what Castle would have done in this situation. Only once she knows someone is staying with Alexis can she return to the command center for whatever this next call could ensue.

"Beckett." She answers the phone like she normally would.

"Look, Kate, one of the hostages had an epileptic fit and passed out and normally I wouldn't care, but it's starting to upset the other hostages and I don't want anyone trying to be a hero. So, here's the deal. You're gonna send in one paramedic to get him in exchange for this generosity, you're gonna have my bus right outside in 20." Kate looks over at Captain Peterson and watches as he shakes his head no.

"That's not enough time."

"But it is for me. Take this guy now, and get my bus outside in 20 or I'll start popping hostages."

"How soon 'til we get that bus?" Kate asks as soon as the line goes dead.

"35 minutes."

"You're gonna have to ask for more time."Captain Peterson suggests.

"He's not gonna go for it." This guy hasn't done anything that would suggest otherwise.

"Then we're gonna storm the bank." Captain Peterson says with a shrug.

"We can't storm the bank. We don't know where anybody is in there. If we go in there, hostages are just gonna get killed." The passion laces every word Kate says as she continues to think about Castle being caught in that situation.

"Listen, if we're gonna save any of them, we have no other choice."

"Maybe we do. We could use this sick hostage to our advantage. Instead of sending in a paramedic, we send in a cop with tactical training. That cop gets intel for when S.W.A.T. goes in to breach the bank."

"I'm guessing you have a cop in mind."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: (Repeat from previous chapter!)**** I always wanted to do a rewrite of Cops and Robbers where Caskett was dating. So I've borrowed dialog from the show to do this rewrite. The first three chapters don't have a ton of difference in the plotting, but chapters 4 and 5 will. Originally I just started at chapter 4 and was going to have this be a two shot, however I felt like it made more sense knowing where Kate was at having the first three chapters added. So before I get reviews saying that a lot of the dialog isn't my own thoughts, I thought I would clear it up:) Enjoy!-Lizzy**

As soon as the doors to the bank open up, Kate pushes the stretcher in, but her eyes are searching for Castle. Castle on the other hand does a double take when he sees Kate inside the bank.

"Search her." The voice who had been on the phone looks at her while another one of the doctors comes over to pat her down. Out of the corner of her eye she notices Castle grab a pen and paper and can only hope she's the only one who noticed.

"She's clear."

"Make it quick. Trapper John says

"How's he doing?" Kate asks as she kneels down next to the man who was clearly not doing well. But it gives her time to talk to Castle, to hear his voice even if only for this patient's sake.

"Not good. His name is Sal Martino, he has epilepsy. I think the seizure was brought on by stress."

"Hey, Sal, hey, buddy. How you doing? Sal, listen to me, I want you to know that there are people out there that care about you, so just keep breathing." She can't help but reach for Castle's hand that's holding Sal's on his chest. Just touching him ever so slightly reassures her that he's still here. "I promise you I'm gonna get you out of here." She catches Castle's eyes and hopes that he understands she's talking to him.

"Hey, don't talk about it. Be about it. And you, help get him on that gurney now!" One of the other male robbers calls out, directing Castle to help Kate.

"Sal, you ready? We're gonna get you up on the count of three. One, two, three." Sal lets out a moan as they lift him up. "Easy, buddy. Easy, buddy." With Castle's help, they get Sal on the gurney and she knows she's going to have to leave Castle soon, even though she doesn't want to. "Easy. Alright." As they buckle him in, Kate slyly takes the paper from Castle's hand. Her eyes search his as she exits, hoping she can convey everything that she hopes he already knows in one look. As she gets outside the real paramedics take Sal and she gives them the little information Castle had been able to give her.

"Your dad's okay." The words fly out of her mouth as she finds Alexis waiting for her. But as she opens and reads the note, she knows Alexis needs to get far away from the bank as possible as soon as possible. "Oh, God."

"What's wrong?" She can't tell Alexis though that her father and grandmother are trapped in a bank with C4.

"Alexis, I need you to go behind that yellow line now." She knows Alexis isn't going to just go on her own so she turns to the officer standing near them and says, "Take her behind the line, now." Kate turns towards the mobile command center, knowing this information needs to be shared now. "Sir." She passses Captain Peterson the note.

"There's C4 in the bank?"

"I didn't see any, but if Castle says it's in there, it's in there."

"That means a breach is out of the question. I'm not gonna send my boys into a bomb fight. We're gonna have to take these guys out on the bus."

"That bus is still 20 minutes out. His deadline's in five. He's gonna start killing hostages."

"We have to buy more time." This time they call into the bank.

"Where's my bus?" Trapper John doesn't even mess with the pleasantries this time.

"The bus is on its way. It'll be there in 20 minutes."

"The hostage'll be dead in two."

"No. Nobody needs to die, okay? It's coming. It's just- it's stuck in traffic."

"We have rules, Kate. I said I wouldn't kill anyone, you said you'd give me a bus. I lived up to my end of the deal."

"And I'm gonna live up to mine. I just-" Her heart is in her throat while she tries to keep Trapper John calm.

"I warned you not to jerk me around. Now, I was clear about the consequences. Do I have to prove how serious I am? Is that it?"

"Okay, I- I think we both just need to take a deep breath and we can talk about it."

"I'm done talking!" A gunshot rings out and Kate can only pray that Trapper John didn't do what he said he would. Castle has to still be alive.

"What was that?"

"A warning shot, Kate. The next one's for the kill!" Kate can hear Martha screaming out in the background for him not to touch someone, and she can only bet her nightmare of seeing a gun pressed to Castle's head is coming true.

"I'm gonna make pretty red stains out of your boyfriend, Kate. I got my gun to his throat and I'm going to paint it Jackson Pollack with his insides!"

"You need to calm him down." Captain Peterson's voice comes from behind her.

"Listen to me, jackass. I do not control traffic, so you're gonna have to give me twenty minutes."

"Now you got one minute, Kate!"

"No! I've got twenty. Do you hear me? Twenty. Because if you pull that trigger, I will walk through those doors and personally put a bullet through your skull." There's a pause as Trapper John makes his decision, and unlike when he decided to be stupid earlier, this time he makes the right choice.

"Okay, Kate. You got twenty more minutes."

"Well, that's one way to negotiate." Captain Peterson says after the line goes dead. "We still got 18 minutes, I want everybody in position. SWAT can rendezvous with the bus here on 49th; they can load there. I want snipers here, here, and here. Get Roman on the horn."

"Why didn't he ask me for something?" Kate can't help but asking. It just doesn't line up with everything that they have learned about these robbers.

"What?" Captain Peterson's attention is pulled to Kate again.

"Sir, he gave me twenty minutes and he didn't ask for anything in return. If he wanted to maintain control, he would've asked for something. I mean, this is all way too easy."

"Take the win, Detective."

"No, sir, something is going on. We're just not asking the right questions. I mean, why would he bring C4 to a bank robbery? What does Agnes Fields' murder have to do with any of this?" Kate lays out all the questions that Castle would normally be throwing her way. It just doesn't line up at all.

"Captain, I've got Sergeant Roman." As Captain Peterson goes to answer the phone, Kate steps over to call her own team and see if they've found anything.

"D'you find anything on Agnes?"

"We've gone over phone and financials and talked to friends and neighbors, nothing sticks out." Espo replies.

"What about, um, Agnes's safety deposit box. Somebody was pretending to be her dead husband and accessed it monthly. Any leads?"

"Nothing so far." Another dead end.

"Relatives?" Kate tries another approach.

"Uh, Agnes really didn't have any relatives left. Her husband's dead, her daughter and grandson died in a boating accident over a year ago." Espo says before Ryan adds in his own bit of information.

"The only surviving relative was former son-on-law, Ron Brandt. We left a message. We haven't heard back yet."

"Look, we don't have time to wait for a return phone call. So, find-" Kate is cut off as the van starts shaking and her mind goes to worst possible scenarios as she walks towards the door of the van where she expects to find an exploded bank outside.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**** There is still some borrowed dialog from the show in this chapter and the next so any that is I don't claim as my own. Enjoy! -Lizzy**

When the bomb had gone off Kate's heart stopped. Castle was in that building and she didn't know if he or Martha or any of the other hostages were ok. The moment everyone else started to run into the building she joins them.

"Castle!" It was hard to breathe in the dust that had filled the air due to the explosion but she knew he would call back to her. "Castle!" She tried again when she heard nothing though.

"Katherine!" The voice that called back was not the one she expected and she knew something was wrong. Through the bars of the gates Kate could see Martha and the other hostages were ok, but the place that she thought she would see Castle looking at her with the soft smile she was hoping to see was instead held by a man that was slouched on the floor unresponsive.

"They're over here! We need a medic in here!" Kate called before running towards the hostages and, more importantly, towards Castle. "Castle!" Kate crouches down next to his unresponsive body and checks for a pulse. It's slower than what she expected but it was there. "What happened?"

"He was checking that everyone was ok and was standing up when the bomb went off. The explosion knocked him into the wall and he hit his head on it," Martha explained as one of the SWAT members cut off her zip ties. Kate cuts Castle's and rolls him over so he's lying flat. He's breathing softly, but he's not responsive and that worries her. A team of medics comes in with a stretcher to help get him out of the building. Kate follows them out with Martha on her tail.

"DAD!" Kate sees the red headed teen running towards them. "What happened?!"

"Alexis, he got hurt in the explosion," Kate says as Martha pulls her granddaughter into her arms. The medics start to load him into the ambulance. "We can follow them in my squad car if you'd like." Two redheads nod simultaneously and the three of them get in the car and follow the ambulance. The ride was quick, but silent as all three women worried about the man in the ambulance. When they got to the hospital Castle was rolled into the ER as Kate, Martha, and Alexis followed quickly behind. A doctor, who even though he introduced himself quickly Kate couldn't focus on or remember the name he had said, checked a few things quickly and then said that Castle was going to be taken to get a CT as they worried about internal bleeding in his brain. The three women were escorted to a waiting area where they sat silently for what felt like an eternity. Martha drapes one arm over Alexis's shoulder and Alexis leans into her grandmother's embrace with tears streaming softly down her cheeks. Martha's other hand reaches over to squeeze Kate's hand and Kate can feel the fear rolling off Martha for her son.

After a while of sitting like this, the three women heard a voice ask, "Family of Richard Castle?" Martha and Alexis stood up. "I'm Dr. Washington. Dr. Kingsley asked me to come inform you that Mr. Castle has some bleeding and swelling in his brain so he is being taken to surgery at this moment. They are hoping to remove some of the pressure as well as…" Kate stopped listening as Dr. Washington went on to describe the procedure as she couldn't focus on it.

Castle was seriously injured. Bleeding in the brain, that wasn't something that was supposed to happen to a person. Kate wasn't one who watched a ton of doctor shows on TV, mostly due to lack of interest, but she thought of the couple of episodes of that one show that Maddie made her watch and bleeding in the brain was always a really bad thing. Martha and Alexis sat back down next to Kate as Dr. Washington walked away.

"Katherine if you need to get back to the precinct, we understand."

"No, Castle stayed for me when I was in surgery, I want to do the same for him," Kate said firmly. "I am going to call Espo and Ryan and let them know what's going on though." Both women next to her nodded as she stood up to go around the corner to make her call.

"Esposito."

"Espo, it's me."

"Beckett, where are you? I thought you and Castle would be here already since SWAT said the hostages are out of the bank."

"Castle was hurt in the explosion." There was silence on the other end. "He hit his head and has bleeding in his brain. He's in surgery right now."

"Which hospital are you at? Ryan and I will be there soon."

"We're at St. Luke's on West 80th and 3 Ave, but he's probably going to be in surgery for a while. I'll keep you posted, but I want you two to stay on the case. I want to catch the son of a bitch who put him here. None of this is making sense anyway. An old lady was killed for her key for her safe deposit box that her dead husband accesses every month?"

"And that all the suspects are dead since they set off the C4 prematurely." Ryan interjects over speaker phone.

"That doesn't make sense though. C4 is very stable. And from what I saw, these guys are professional with military precision. They wouldn't set off the bomb prematurely." Kate pauses to think back before the explosion as well as trying not to think about how Castle could be dying in an operating room right now. "What were you saying earlier about Agnes Field's last remaining relative?"

"Former son-in-law, Ron Brandt. Left a message, but he does a lot of business overseas and may not even be in the country. I'm sending you his picture right now. He's listed at a penthouse on the upper east side, so we can go check out-" Kate glances at the photo and can't help but interrupt Ryan.

"Wait, that's- that's the son-in-law?"

"Yeah, why?"

"This was one of the hostages. He was having a seizure and...oh, God. I'll call you back." Kate steps over to the nursing station and steps back into her detective persona as she goes to get information about Sal or Ron or whatever his name is. Hi I'm Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. I'm checking in on a patient that came in from a bank robbery. His name is Sal Martino."

"Let me check his status." The dark haired nurse types on her computer for a few moments. "He checked himself out against medical advice."

"He did?" The nurse nods and Kate pulls her phone back out to call Espo and Ryan back. "He checked himself out against medical advice. He's gone. It was him. He orchestrated this whole thing."

"It turns out Ron Brandt runs a company that supplies military contracts to a special operational forces from around the world."

"Okay, so he uses his military connection to hire that team of mercenaries in the bank, and then, to avoid loose ends, wrong-rigs the C4 to blow early." Kate suggests.

"Talk about cold blooded."

"And he did all of this just for the contents of Agnes's safety deposit box? One of the hostages said that Castle saw there were only photos and letters in there. And Trapper John must've given them to Ron when he was being escorted back from the restroom, because right after that, he faked a seizure and was let go. But why? I mean, what was so special about his former mother-in-law's safety deposit box?"

"Yeah. Ron was married to Agnes's daughter, Tanya. Both her and her son Connor were killed in a boating accident about a year ago." Espo relays.

"I'm not so sure about that. Turns out that neither his wife Tanya, nor Connor's body was ever recovered." Ryan's voice comes over the phone to explain.

"Why would the wife fake their deaths?" Kate asks, guessing a few reasons but hoping that while she's been pacing waiting for Castle to get out of surgery, that Espo and Ryan have found a reason.

"Domestic abuse. However, Ron had the connections and the wealth to avoid prosecution." Ryan throws out.

"So the system failed her. She and the kid couldn't escape Ron's abuse, so she fakes their deaths and disappears." Espo tosses into the conversation.

"Yeah, but to disappear, she had to walk away from her former life. Sever ties with everything and everyone she ever knew. Except she couldn't, especially with her mom, Agnes. Which is what the safety deposit box was for. It's a means of communication. It's like a Cold War drop box in some John le Carré novel." If only Castle was awake to hear her reference that, man how he would tease her. "Only, Tanya wouldn't be able to risk making the drops. So, who would make the drops for her?"

"Our mystery man who was posing as Agnes's dead husband. He was Tanya's middleman." Ryan reminds her

"Okay, so Tanya sends the photos and the letters to the middleman. The middleman puts them in the safety deposit box for Agnes. The box serves as a mailbox."

"Only, it's better than a mailbox 'cause it's locked up inside a bank." Espo points out. "Should have been safer."

"Ron must've suspected that they faked their deaths and that's when he bugged Agnes's home."

"And when Ron found out about the box, he killed Agnes for the key."

"Right. And with the clock ticking, he hired that crew to stage the bank robbery to get to the box with that key." Kate pauses for a moment before realizing something even bigger. "You know, those photos and letters will say exactly where his wife and son are hiding. He's on his way there now, and we know what he's going to do once he gets there."

"He's gonna kidnap his son and kill his wife." Ryan says in a shocked breath. "Identifying the middleman is the only way we're gonna be able to find Tanya and Connor. So, what do we know? He passed for Agnes's late husband."

"And it'd have to be someone that Ron wouldn't suspect."Kate tosses into the profile.

"That rules out friends, neighbors, and co-workers." Espo counters.

"But it was probably a person that they trusted." Kate says back.

"Middleman could've been paid. Maybe we can track their payments." Espo suggests.

"You know, they were probably smart enough to pay in cash, which is untraceable." Kate runs a hand through her hair wondering if Castle would be the one they would need to connect the dots.

"Unless, if paying by check wouldn't've thrown up any red flags. At the time of Connor and Tanya's supposed deaths, she was making monthly tithe checks to Saint Abigail's church."

"And who better fits this profile than a priest?" Kate feels almost excited knowing they had a lead.

"And I know which one we should speak to first. The priest who officiated their funeral." There's some shuffling of files before Ryan continues, "Father Sean McCaskey."

"Great, you boys go talk to the priest. I'm staying with Castle until he wakes up."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**** There is still some borrowed dialog from the show in this chapter and the next so any that is I don't claim as my own. Enjoy! -Lizzy**

The time passes slowly, but things start to wrap themselves up. They managed to get the info they needed from the priest and were able to get the Ithaca cops to help stop the situation before Ron got away with Connor. Ryan and Espo are on their way to make sure everything is ok, so Kate is sitting in the room with Alexis and Martha waiting for Castle to wake up. Kate can already guess that Castle is going to be disappointed that he missed the wrap up of the case, but right now she's more focused on how long it will take for him to wake up. His head is wrapped in bandages from the surgery which is a scary look, but Dr. Kingsley has already come and reassured them. The surgery was successful in removing the pressure from Castle's brain, so now all they can do is wait for him to wake up. That could be anywhere from an hour from now to days from now.

Kate wants to reach out and touch Castle, feel that he's really alive. But seeing as neither Martha or Alexis know that she and Castle have moved their relationship past detective/citizen investigator or, as Castle liked to call them, writer/muse to something more, reaching out to grab him would be too much for their partnership.

"I need a coffee or something stronger." Martha says, tossing her head back from her hands. "Kate do you want anything?"

"No thanks Martha. I'm ok."

"Alexis darling, why don't you come with me so I don't get lost coming back here."

"Grams-"

"Come on. Something warm would be good for our souls." She wraps an arm around her granddaughter and starts to steer her towards the door, but Alexis turns in her arms to face Kate.

"Dad hates not knowing how things end with your cases. Maybe giving him some of what happened outside of when he was there will help him wake up faster." Kate smiles lightly at the girl who clearly knows her father too well.

As the door shuts behind them, Kate slips into the seat Alexis had been sitting in right near Castle's bed. She slips her hands around his and places a kiss on it. "God Castle, I need you to wake up soon. I know you want to know why the bank was robbed and I have all the answers for you. It's the kind of case you love. Not only because it was weird with the safety deposit box, but the whole bank robbery in general. Don't worry though, this one gets a victory in the end. Rick I need you though. That's the victory I need. I need you to wake up so I can tell you I love you and yell at you for almost getting shot at. I need you. I'll tell you it every day for the rest of our lives. I need you in my life so much, 'cause I love you Rick."

"Love you too." This murmur wouldn't have normally caught her attention, but being the first thing she has heard from him since she saw him in the bank, it catches her attention.

"Castle?" His eyes aren't open, but they flutter hearing her calling for him.

"Mmm, Kate."

"Rick can you open your eyes for me please?" Longing to see those baby blues again, to see that he's ok, makes her call his first name out instead of her usual Castle. Slowly, his eyes flutter open and he takes the sight of her in.

"Kate. Hi." A light smile forms on his lips and his hand wraps around the one holding his. Finally his eyes break away from hers and he notices the room around her. "Where am I?"

"Hospital. Speaking of, I should grab your doctor and let Martha and Alexis know you're awake. We've been waiting for you to wake up."

"Don't go yet." Castle's voice is raspier than normal.

"Let me at least grab the nurse? They need to check on you." Castle stares into her eyes like he doesn't want to let her go. "It will take all of two minutes and then I'll be back."

"Ok." He finally grumbles and releases her hand. Kate leans down and places a kiss on his cheek, which brightens his mood ever so slightly. She doesn't want to be away from him longer than she has to be either, so stepping out into the hallway, she grabs the first nurse she sees.

"Castle-Rick Castle that is, he's awake." She can barely stumble through the words, but she gets out what she means eventually.

"In room 247?" Kate nods quickly, glad she remembers his room number. "I'll page Dr. Kingsley."

"Thank you." Kate makes her way back towards Castle, only taking the time to text Alexis that her dad is awake on the way. As she walks in the door, the smile that radiates off of Castle's face when he sees her is everything she didn't know she needed. "Hey."

"You're back."

"Told you I was coming back." Kate's lips reach into a small smile while she says this.

"Did you and the boys catch who blew up the bank? Who orchestrated it?"

"Yeah, Sal did it. His real name is Ron Brandt."

"No." Castle's face twists into shock while his eyes open wide.

"Yeah. He did all of this to get access to the safety deposit box that his ex wive's mother and their priest were using to pass information back and forth about the wife and child that faked their deaths because of him and his abuse."

"Did he find them?" Castle's eyes search her's, trying to get the end of the story.

"He did, but Ithaca police were able to intervene before he could escape with Connor."

"Thank God. I take it you, Ryan and Espo played a part in that?" Kate nods, knowing she doesn't have to give him the play by play today, they have all the time in the world. "Huh."

"What?"

"Just thinking about how even as a hostage I help you solve crimes. Beckett, I think...I think you have the perfect partner." Kate can't help but let out a chuckle at his antics.

"Yeah, except he doesn't like doing paperwork."

"Touché." She grabs his hand once more as she sits down, knowing she doesn't have a ton of time before Martha and Alexis get back, where she'll need to step back into the role of just partner. "Don't scare me like this again ok?"

"Scare you?" Castle's eyebrows pull together at her words.

"We've both been in the hospital too much in a six month period. Please don't end up here again any time soon."

"I'll try my hardest." She squeezes his hand ever so slightly.

"That's all I ask." She goes to release his hand when he grabs her hand before it can escape completely.

"Castle, your mom and daughter are going to be up here soon."

"So?"

"So… they don't know about us and I don't know if this is how you want them to find out."

"Let them find out, I don't care." He pulls her hand up to kiss it since her lips are too far away.

"You're sure?" Rick nods looking at Kate to see if she was ready to tell people about them. Instead she knows she needs to tell him something, "I was scared I was going to lose you today and I almost did. I kept thinking back to this morning in bed and how I wished I could go back there and not let you leave the house. I don't know what we're doing Rick, but I don't want us to stop."

"I don't want us to stop either. We love each other, so why should we stop?" Rick says smiling at Kate, remembering the words she had said to him right before he opened his eyes. "Can I call you my girlfriend now?" His eyes are completely serious, even if he has a playful smile on his lips.

"Not at the precinct, but outside of it, I think we can work something out." She leans forward and kisses him ever so slightly on the lips, not wanting to hurt him but needing to feel that he is really there.

"Finally!" Kate spins around to see Martha and Alexis at the door with Dr. Kingsley behind them. "Took you two long enough! Glad you saw through this tragedy to realize you belong together!" Rick just groans at his mother's antics while Kate can't help but let a small smile escape at knowing that more people than just her and him know they are together now.


End file.
